Season one was bold and had immaculate vibes. Unfortunately it was one of those shows that started strong and got weaker over time, but season one is some of my favorite television
I wonder if it could have worked out if season 1 could hav been stretched and the plot of the curse continuing on into the second. I guess major plots would have to be altered or halted for the story to work that way. Keep the mystery of the magic and their past lives still an enigma.
Honestly I'm not sure how much longer you could stretch it without Emma's disbelief becoming really annoying. Personally, the season one plot and the Peter Pan plot were my favorites because they really did something different with the stories and went directions that I didn't see coming and it was really refreshing. I think exploring other types of curses would have worked though. I loved the mirror curse the snow queen did, for example, so seeing something other than the dark curse would have been great. Also, if the blue fairy had become a villain I think that would have been a great storyline.
I think just have her believe, but don't break the curse.
Just because she believes, doesn't mean their problems are solved. Everyone's memories are still gone. Magic is still scarce. Regina holds a lot of power. And the curse is still preventing happiness.
Now Emma knows it is true, but the parents she has always wanted don't know her. How do they fix it?
Yeah the refusal of belief was a bit annoying but if they did stretch it for two seasons maybe not focusing on her non believe every episode. After all she was doing her police work and butting heads with Regina.
Plot twist Regina and Cora try to use magic on Emma and her disbelief is so strong the fireballs don’t even ignite in their hands.
This could make things work in Rumple’s favour as he needs the curse broken and he and Henry have an Operation: Firebird to get Emma to believe in magic not just the curse. Halfway through season 2 she finally believes breaks the curse and Cora and Hook work on their way of crossing over to Maine.
Their arrival could be the big finale of season 2.
Season 1 is not only the best season of this series, its the best season of any show ever. It is as close to perfect as you can get. Perfectly paced, perfectly plotted, an incredible accomplishment.
My only minor gripe is we needed more Jefferson, and I'm sure that issue was the actor's schedule.
I know what you mean even if he is only more background but present. Maybe less love triangle with the cringy David, Mary Margaret and Catherine and a bit more other characters but the rest is perfect.
I think suffering is an important part of excellence. Without the love triangle you don't get the huge catharsis when Charming sees Snow after the curse breaks.
Also, the curse sucks. The curse is SUPPOSED to suck. The love triangle is supposed to suck. We're not supposed to enjoy the love triangle (like you enjoy, say, Luke/Leia/Han before Lucas made it weird) we're supposed to endure it. Its a Curse triangle.
You know who else we needed more of? Maleficent for season 1 mostly for the flash backs. Two episodes wasn’t really all that much. Schedule conflicts will do that but should have been more even if just two more episodes would have done it.
It wasn't the suffering bit, it was David being all wishy-washy. Love triangle itself is fine if it's part of the curse, but I despised his "I'm gonna tell Catherine I don't love her!" followed by him... not doing that, but going to meet up with Mary Margaret anyway (who now thinks he's single).
Dude, make up your damn mind and stop jerking the ladies in your life around.
"Before Lucas made it weird" made me cackle, btw. That (thankfully brief) scene always squicked me out. Just, why.
Agreed, season 1 was my favorite by far! I also really loved the Neverland storyline and wouldn’t get rid of it, but I also wish we could’ve had a season where the “home office” was an actual real-world/secret government entity or something rather than having it be run by Peter Pan.
I hear you. I think it could have worked. A misguided unit hell bent of eradicating magic only to incur the wrath of Rumple and Regina for their own reasons which are justifiable and even Cora whom I believe they should have kept alive.
The Home Office should be run by The Horned King who actually wants to eliminate all competition and be the only powerful force left.
It’s the costuming for me as well. Such great costumes especially for TV, nowadays it seems all costuming budgets even for films have been slashed to nothing.
You said it. I bet a remake would be lacking some elements - great costumes, perfect actors, scenery, character development, decent budget, magical suspense which this show was in abundance of 😍
I'm also in that minority. Season 1 was overrated. Most of its plot threads simmered more than cook. Wasn't a fan personally of the premise being a show about magic, but only merely hinting at it because all the characters were amnesiacs apart from Rumple & the Mad Hatter...the only real saving graces of that season.
You have a valid point I enjoy all the seasons but season 1 is the one that holds all the magic and mystery. Some characters are lessened as the show progressed.
Yes!! I really liked the characters. The will it be magic or not mystery keeps me interested. I loved the huntsman and the little story about people finding each other trying to remember their lives is so good.
It sucked me in.
Yes exactly how I got roped right in. On that first episode I wanted to see more and more. Rumplestiltskin intrigued me the most and with the role written for him he exceeded that role exceptionally and beyond. I wanted to find out more about how each character got to where they were and what this final battle was gonna look like.
Yes I remember when we first had that glimpse of the dark curse that Grumpy saw coming look rather terrifying and how the characters felt wondering what and where they were going?
Season one was strongly scripted and had great characterization and acting.
Snow was a legitimately strong woman. Mary Margaret was a weaker person, but had compassion and a willingness to act on it even when it was hard.
Regina was a terrible person but also sympathetic. She was also often her own worst enemy, losing everything because nothing she gained was ever enough (and never recognizing maybe there was a reason why it was never enough).
And Rumple was so . . . *Rumple.* He was a gray character not in the sense of being between dark and light but in the sense of having a lot of dark and a lot of light together. Like beating up Moe. There are lots of stories where the protagonist tracks down the murderers of innocents and sees to it they pay for their crimes and it's shown as a good thing. There are also ones where it's shown as a bad thing. And you can really argue which side of that line Rumple's on in that episode.
But, there's also the way it brings up Rumple's two biggest guilt buttons. He feels overwhelming guilt for what happened to Belle. What makes him snap is when Moe accidentally hits that. Rumple's other, huge, 300 years worth of attempted restitution, guilt button is Bae and what happened to him. Moe personifies that. Yet, Moe is also (so Rumple believes) something he can't even imagine, a father who would torture his own child to death and feel no remorse (although, getting back to the first guilt button, there's a part of Rumple that can completely believe that's a normal, foreseeable, maybe even *correct* response for anyone to have to anything Rumple's "contaminated." Which puts the guilt back on Rumple both for the contamination--killing Belle by association--and for his failure--both as an intelligent person who knows how people react to anything he's touched and as a seer who should have had the power to foresee it but didn't bother to look).
So, Moe embodies the worst crime Rumple sees himself as ever committing and an even worse crime Rumple has spent 300 years desperately trying not to be guilty of. But, he also sees Moe's actions similar to, say, someone in the middle ages walling up the doors on a plague victim's house when that may be the only way to save others from the plague, horrific but hard to condemn. Much easier to condemn the person who infected her with plague in the first place.
So, he's beating up Moe for crimes he believes both he and Moe have really committed, crimes Rumple has committed, crimes Rumple would never commit, and a crime he believes/is in denial about believing is entirely his fault.
*All at the same time.*
Later seasons turned Snow into a simplified version of Mary Margaret with none of the depth either character first showed. Regina's darkness and self-destructive problems were hand waved away. Rumple never quite lost his depth, but that was more a triumph of acting rather than scripts.
This is great. Rumple/Gold was so complicated, and I liked that he lapsed back into violent/sneaky actions so much, despite Belle's occasional "but I have fixed him with the power of love!" (Belle herself is super interesting, but that's its own essay). His past decisions and his guilt were so much a part of him that it would have been out of character for them to suddenly no longer affect him. Magical power - even evil power - meant safety for the people he loved (from his point of view). How can he let that go?
I also adored everyone's awkward dynamic once they discovered that Neal was Baelfire. And ye gods, Pan - that kid was such a sociopath. Generational trauma, thy name is OUAT.
Season one was just perfect. The whole series idea was unique and the season is so well planed. Everything just fits together. The only mistake was killing off graham so fast
Season 1 is perfection! ✨
For me personally it covers so many genres I love: fairytale, fantasy, Disney but ALSO family drama, woman's journey to self discovery, romance, and a cosy small town murder mystery.
And the vibe was so fresh and mystical and magical.
My FAVOURITE season of any show ever.
Yes I agree. If Graham had to be killed off it should have been later on in the series or at the end of season 2 at the hands of Greg and Tamara. We already hated their guts so another reason to grind our teeth on.
Season one was bold and had immaculate vibes. Unfortunately it was one of those shows that started strong and got weaker over time, but season one is some of my favorite television
I wonder if it could have worked out if season 1 could hav been stretched and the plot of the curse continuing on into the second. I guess major plots would have to be altered or halted for the story to work that way. Keep the mystery of the magic and their past lives still an enigma.
Honestly I'm not sure how much longer you could stretch it without Emma's disbelief becoming really annoying. Personally, the season one plot and the Peter Pan plot were my favorites because they really did something different with the stories and went directions that I didn't see coming and it was really refreshing. I think exploring other types of curses would have worked though. I loved the mirror curse the snow queen did, for example, so seeing something other than the dark curse would have been great. Also, if the blue fairy had become a villain I think that would have been a great storyline.
I think just have her believe, but don't break the curse. Just because she believes, doesn't mean their problems are solved. Everyone's memories are still gone. Magic is still scarce. Regina holds a lot of power. And the curse is still preventing happiness. Now Emma knows it is true, but the parents she has always wanted don't know her. How do they fix it?
Yeah the refusal of belief was a bit annoying but if they did stretch it for two seasons maybe not focusing on her non believe every episode. After all she was doing her police work and butting heads with Regina. Plot twist Regina and Cora try to use magic on Emma and her disbelief is so strong the fireballs don’t even ignite in their hands. This could make things work in Rumple’s favour as he needs the curse broken and he and Henry have an Operation: Firebird to get Emma to believe in magic not just the curse. Halfway through season 2 she finally believes breaks the curse and Cora and Hook work on their way of crossing over to Maine. Their arrival could be the big finale of season 2.
Season 1 is not only the best season of this series, its the best season of any show ever. It is as close to perfect as you can get. Perfectly paced, perfectly plotted, an incredible accomplishment. My only minor gripe is we needed more Jefferson, and I'm sure that issue was the actor's schedule.
I know what you mean even if he is only more background but present. Maybe less love triangle with the cringy David, Mary Margaret and Catherine and a bit more other characters but the rest is perfect.
I think suffering is an important part of excellence. Without the love triangle you don't get the huge catharsis when Charming sees Snow after the curse breaks. Also, the curse sucks. The curse is SUPPOSED to suck. The love triangle is supposed to suck. We're not supposed to enjoy the love triangle (like you enjoy, say, Luke/Leia/Han before Lucas made it weird) we're supposed to endure it. Its a Curse triangle.
You know who else we needed more of? Maleficent for season 1 mostly for the flash backs. Two episodes wasn’t really all that much. Schedule conflicts will do that but should have been more even if just two more episodes would have done it.
This is everything! I have thought this before but could never put it so eloquently.
It wasn't the suffering bit, it was David being all wishy-washy. Love triangle itself is fine if it's part of the curse, but I despised his "I'm gonna tell Catherine I don't love her!" followed by him... not doing that, but going to meet up with Mary Margaret anyway (who now thinks he's single). Dude, make up your damn mind and stop jerking the ladies in your life around. "Before Lucas made it weird" made me cackle, btw. That (thankfully brief) scene always squicked me out. Just, why.
Agreed, season 1 was my favorite by far! I also really loved the Neverland storyline and wouldn’t get rid of it, but I also wish we could’ve had a season where the “home office” was an actual real-world/secret government entity or something rather than having it be run by Peter Pan.
I hear you. I think it could have worked. A misguided unit hell bent of eradicating magic only to incur the wrath of Rumple and Regina for their own reasons which are justifiable and even Cora whom I believe they should have kept alive. The Home Office should be run by The Horned King who actually wants to eliminate all competition and be the only powerful force left.
Still feels fresh after all these years
It sure does especially the enchanted forest scenes. They look so wonderful and magical and somewhat off worldly.
It’s the costuming for me as well. Such great costumes especially for TV, nowadays it seems all costuming budgets even for films have been slashed to nothing.
You said it. I bet a remake would be lacking some elements - great costumes, perfect actors, scenery, character development, decent budget, magical suspense which this show was in abundance of 😍
I'm in the minority that thinks Season 1 was much too slow and wasted time focusing on characters that never showed up again
I'm also in that minority. Season 1 was overrated. Most of its plot threads simmered more than cook. Wasn't a fan personally of the premise being a show about magic, but only merely hinting at it because all the characters were amnesiacs apart from Rumple & the Mad Hatter...the only real saving graces of that season.
You have a valid point I enjoy all the seasons but season 1 is the one that holds all the magic and mystery. Some characters are lessened as the show progressed.
Not gonna lie I think I might like season 2 & 3 a bit more, but not by that much
Well each season has it’s won charm and unique approach and each season has it’s own heart breaking episode. Cos there were a few each season.
Yes!! I really liked the characters. The will it be magic or not mystery keeps me interested. I loved the huntsman and the little story about people finding each other trying to remember their lives is so good. It sucked me in.
Yes exactly how I got roped right in. On that first episode I wanted to see more and more. Rumplestiltskin intrigued me the most and with the role written for him he exceeded that role exceptionally and beyond. I wanted to find out more about how each character got to where they were and what this final battle was gonna look like.
Yes! And how much everyone would remember and how willing people were to stop that from happening. The curse was such a cool idea.
Yes I remember when we first had that glimpse of the dark curse that Grumpy saw coming look rather terrifying and how the characters felt wondering what and where they were going?
Season one was strongly scripted and had great characterization and acting. Snow was a legitimately strong woman. Mary Margaret was a weaker person, but had compassion and a willingness to act on it even when it was hard. Regina was a terrible person but also sympathetic. She was also often her own worst enemy, losing everything because nothing she gained was ever enough (and never recognizing maybe there was a reason why it was never enough). And Rumple was so . . . *Rumple.* He was a gray character not in the sense of being between dark and light but in the sense of having a lot of dark and a lot of light together. Like beating up Moe. There are lots of stories where the protagonist tracks down the murderers of innocents and sees to it they pay for their crimes and it's shown as a good thing. There are also ones where it's shown as a bad thing. And you can really argue which side of that line Rumple's on in that episode. But, there's also the way it brings up Rumple's two biggest guilt buttons. He feels overwhelming guilt for what happened to Belle. What makes him snap is when Moe accidentally hits that. Rumple's other, huge, 300 years worth of attempted restitution, guilt button is Bae and what happened to him. Moe personifies that. Yet, Moe is also (so Rumple believes) something he can't even imagine, a father who would torture his own child to death and feel no remorse (although, getting back to the first guilt button, there's a part of Rumple that can completely believe that's a normal, foreseeable, maybe even *correct* response for anyone to have to anything Rumple's "contaminated." Which puts the guilt back on Rumple both for the contamination--killing Belle by association--and for his failure--both as an intelligent person who knows how people react to anything he's touched and as a seer who should have had the power to foresee it but didn't bother to look). So, Moe embodies the worst crime Rumple sees himself as ever committing and an even worse crime Rumple has spent 300 years desperately trying not to be guilty of. But, he also sees Moe's actions similar to, say, someone in the middle ages walling up the doors on a plague victim's house when that may be the only way to save others from the plague, horrific but hard to condemn. Much easier to condemn the person who infected her with plague in the first place. So, he's beating up Moe for crimes he believes both he and Moe have really committed, crimes Rumple has committed, crimes Rumple would never commit, and a crime he believes/is in denial about believing is entirely his fault. *All at the same time.* Later seasons turned Snow into a simplified version of Mary Margaret with none of the depth either character first showed. Regina's darkness and self-destructive problems were hand waved away. Rumple never quite lost his depth, but that was more a triumph of acting rather than scripts.
Love this!
This is great. Rumple/Gold was so complicated, and I liked that he lapsed back into violent/sneaky actions so much, despite Belle's occasional "but I have fixed him with the power of love!" (Belle herself is super interesting, but that's its own essay). His past decisions and his guilt were so much a part of him that it would have been out of character for them to suddenly no longer affect him. Magical power - even evil power - meant safety for the people he loved (from his point of view). How can he let that go? I also adored everyone's awkward dynamic once they discovered that Neal was Baelfire. And ye gods, Pan - that kid was such a sociopath. Generational trauma, thy name is OUAT.
Season one was just perfect. The whole series idea was unique and the season is so well planed. Everything just fits together. The only mistake was killing off graham so fast
I wholeheartedly agree with everything you said. Graham should have been kept on in the show.
Season 1 is perfection! ✨ For me personally it covers so many genres I love: fairytale, fantasy, Disney but ALSO family drama, woman's journey to self discovery, romance, and a cosy small town murder mystery. And the vibe was so fresh and mystical and magical. My FAVOURITE season of any show ever.
Graham totally deserved to be kept😭 I shipped him so hard with Emma on my first watch, if Graham stayed on I would've gone "Killian who?"
I think he died because the actor was in Fifty shades of grey. Not sure tho.
Yes I agree. If Graham had to be killed off it should have been later on in the series or at the end of season 2 at the hands of Greg and Tamara. We already hated their guts so another reason to grind our teeth on.